Ageing reduces sensitivity to timing mismatches in the perception of human motion E Roudaia1, L Hoyet2, C O'Sullivan3, D McGovern1, F Newell1 |
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1Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland |
| Timing of events conveys important information about causality [Michotte, 1963, The perception of causality, New York, Basic Books]. We examined whether the sensitivity to timing in human motion changes with ageing. Stimuli consisted of computer animations of one character (pusher) approaching and pushing another character (target) on the back, causing him to step forward. Timing mismatches were introduced at the point of contact to create animations where the target either anticipated or delayed his reaction [Hoyet et al., 2012, ACM T Graphic, 31(4)]. In Experiment 1, younger and older participants judged whether the target’s reaction was early or late. The perceived correct timing was biased towards early reactions in both groups, but the bias was significantly greater in older participants, who also showed poorer sensitivity to timing. In Experiment 2, participants judged which of two animations had the correct timing for animations with no sound, a sound at or before the time of contact. Whereas younger participants detected reliably timing mismatches as short as 100ms, older participants required more than 200ms mismatch to do so. Presentation of the sound affected only the perceived correct timing, not the sensitivity. These results have important implications for perception and mobility in older age. |
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